Broken Arrow (1996)

Featured Audience Ratings

• xGary X

  
  A US stealth bomber pilot steals its nuclear payload to hold the government to ransom with only his erstwhile comrade and a Park Ranger in a position to stop him. Yet another no-brainer from John Woo, Broken Arrow features every cliche from the Hollywood action playbook, including… More
  A US stealth bomber pilot steals its nuclear payload to hold the government to ransom with only his erstwhile comrade and a Park Ranger in a position to stop him. Yet another no-brainer from John Woo, Broken Arrow features every cliche from the Hollywood action playbook, including exploding helicopters aplenty, endless slow motion shoot outs and literally everything blows up in an enormous fireball (hell, one of them's even nuclear!) It features the machine gun toting hijackers providing the out of the frying pan into the fire into another frying pan scenarios of Die Hard and the runaway train finale of Speed, all set in some pretty desert locations and it all happens with digital clocks ominously counting down time after time after time. Christian Slater is likeable enough as the hero and Travolta is clearly enjoying himself as the grinning psychopath but there's little in the way of imagination or invention, it just preferring to stick to the formula with mechanical efficiency. Not exactly terrible, but there's also nothing here you won't have sat through during every other action blockbuster you've ever seen.

• AJ V

  
  No, it's not a remake of the 50s western with James Stewart, this is an entirely different movie. This action movie has good actors, an interesting story, and it's very exciting. I liked it.

• Al S

  
  A high-octane and supersonic blast of a thrill-machine and it dose not let up until the very end. An excellent movie. Director, John Woo scores again with another stellar and exciting adventure. A tremendously entertaining and explosive action-packed thriller. A wickedly enjoyable and… More
  A high-octane and supersonic blast of a thrill-machine and it dose not let up until the very end. An excellent movie. Director, John Woo scores again with another stellar and exciting adventure. A tremendously entertaining and explosive action-packed thriller. A wickedly enjoyable and blisteringly exciting movie that delivers. Loads of thrills, action, humor and adrenaline to kick-start your heart all over again. John Travolta gives a wildly unpredictable and sensational performance loaded with mad man energy that just makes him a total blast to watch in this bad guy role.

• Christopher A

  
  Broken Arrow is the snotty little brother of the big, loud and ridiclous genre (think Con Air, Speed, Face Off). Where those films thrive, Broken Arrow falls short as despite its best efforts it isnt big enough, it isnt loud enough and the premise of the storyline (ex Army stealing a… More
  Broken Arrow is the snotty little brother of the big, loud and ridiclous genre (think Con Air, Speed, Face Off). Where those films thrive, Broken Arrow falls short as despite its best efforts it isnt big enough, it isnt loud enough and the premise of the storyline (ex Army stealing a nuke..) is way too belieable. Christian Slater, although likeable, doesnt quite cut it as an action hero and John Travolta plays a watered down version of his Face Off role. Enjoyable but we've seen it all before, done bigger and better(and with the same actor!). Broken Arrow is worrth a watch if none of the forementioned are available, if only to count how many times the John Travolta 'bad guy' music score is repeated throughout the film. (Im going with at least 13 times). "Would you mind not shooting at the thermonuclear weapons?"

• KJ P

  
  Broken Arrow is an enjoyable action/thriller that which, at best, delivers just fine. It begins very weak, and almost makes no sense of why there is a rival, but it all comes together nicely to have a good old time watching things explode in a battle of the ages. The final scene had… More
  Broken Arrow is an enjoyable action/thriller that which, at best, delivers just fine. It begins very weak, and almost makes no sense of why there is a rival, but it all comes together nicely to have a good old time watching things explode in a battle of the ages. The final scene had my jaw-dropped, but the rest of the film will become forgettable over time. However, for what it is, it is a pretty good film!

• Jason O

  
  Was hyped to see it, but very disappointed after viewing it, so much so I didn't even review it on Amazon way back when, which is saying something. When it comes to "Broken Arrow," I prefer the Rod Stewart song of the same name.

• Anthony L

  
  More poo from John Woo! John Travolta's acting is laughable but it?s so bad you keep watching. It?s a terrible film though so please don't bother!

• Khris N

  
  Travolta, Slater and John Woo - Enuff said!!! (did i mention 2 nuclear bombs??)

• Lenny M

  
  Nothing special about the film except a couple death scenes towards the end. Boring environment and screenplay, mediocre acting.

• Tsubaki S

  
  Woo shakes hands with the hollywood devil.

• Aaron N

  
  Riley Hale: You're out of your mind. Vic Deakins: Yeah. Ain't it cool? Riley Hale: I'm serious, Deak, your mind has taken a walk off the map. Vic Deakins: Maybe. But I'm still gonna kick your ass. Its Die Hard...in Utah. Probably the most guilty pleasurish of… More
  Riley Hale: You're out of your mind. Vic Deakins: Yeah. Ain't it cool? Riley Hale: I'm serious, Deak, your mind has taken a walk off the map. Vic Deakins: Maybe. But I'm still gonna kick your ass. Its Die Hard...in Utah. Probably the most guilty pleasurish of all of Woo's action movies. It's a fun guy movie, with tough guy one-liners and fun action. Christian Slater as the sarcastic hero works for me, and I like Travolta acting all icy-cool as a villain. Then Samantha Mathis steps in as the park ranger/romantic interest to help out our hero when in need. Vic Deakins: I just realized something. I never actually killed anyone before. I mean, I dropped bombs on Baghdad, but, uh... never face to face. [pause] Vic Deakins: I don't know what the big deal is. I really don't. Being a John Woo film, this film delivers on the action, no matter how ridiculous. There are explosions almost every five minutes, duel wielded guns, slo mo use, sliding, jumping, jiving and wailing, and its all good stuff. The plot, because I know it matters so much, involves two stealth pilots carrying a couple nuclear bombs. One turns on the other, lets the nukes go in order to hold them for ransom, and ditches the plane and his partner. A chase and race against time ensue, even featuring the red digital readout on the bomb. This movie is about having fun and I still enjoy watching it. Giles Prentice: I don't know what's scarier, losing a nuclear weapon or that it happens so often there's actually a term for it.

• Dean M

  
  Amazing and superb John Woo action-packed film between John Travolta and Christian Slater as military pilots turned moral enemies in gunfight and hand-to-hand fight scenes. COOL!

• Candy R

  
  Action thriller. John's character steals two missiles.

• Dean !

  
  A run of the mill action film, nothing great but it has it's moments.

• Justin Y

  
  An average rating for an average movie. John Travolta does a nice job as a villain, but Christian Slater doesn't cut it as a hero in this one. It also seemed that Samantha Mathis' character was thrown in just to get a female in the mix. What made this even worse was that… More
  An average rating for an average movie. John Travolta does a nice job as a villain, but Christian Slater doesn't cut it as a hero in this one. It also seemed that Samantha Mathis' character was thrown in just to get a female in the mix. What made this even worse was that director John Woo came out with <i>Face/Off</i> a year later and it was ten times better. It made you wonder, what John Woo was thinking when he made this.

• danny d

  
  good action flick, i was suprised by howie long

• Jason S

  
  ok. Good to see these two acting together.

• Michael G

  
  I loved it at the time, but that time didn't last.

• Roy G

  
  The action is cool in true John Woo style.

• Luke B

  
  Admittedly one of my guilty pleasures. Some great action and John Travolta being a great bad guy. Formulaic, yep, slightly trashy, probably. But still highly enjoyable.

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